One-Man Bands

BY ANDRIA LISLE | FEBRUARY 1, 2007
FROM: The Memphis Flyer

Recorded under the moniker Vending Machine, Robby Grant's latest, King Cobras Do, is scheduled for release this weekend. On Saturday, February 3rd, he's having an album-release party at the Hi-Tone Café; the self-released CD is also available at Goner Records and Shangri-La Records.

With 12 songs and guests ranging from former Big Ass Truck bandmates Robert Barnett and Steve Selvidge to current Glitches bandmates Adam Woodard and Jared and Lori McStay, King Cobras Do runs the gamut from frenzied pop ("Babies," the album's opener) to blues rock ("44 Times") and surreal space music ("Saturn National Anthem").

The stylishly experimental, electronic-flavored music favored by artists such as Beck -- and, closer to home, former Memphian Shelby Bryant -- factors in on "Memories and Actions," "Desert Sun Played," and the aforementioned "Saturn National Anthem," while "Yawp" shares the same sonic space as Santo & Johnny's "Sleepwalk" transmogrified with, say, Southern Culture on the Skids' "8 Piece Box."

"Shelby has had a big effect on me," Grant admits. "When Big Ass Truck was recording Kent at Ardent, he lived right across the street from the studio. Later, when I started doing a lot of four-track sessions at my house, he was the first person I collaborated with. Recently, we've been in touch, writing and collaborating on songs over the Internet."

By now, Grant has bypassed the four-track machine for Sony Vegas, a program similar to ProTools -- and on King Cobras Do, he partnered with an up-and-coming lyricist, his 7-year old son, Five.

"He does a lot of free association," Grant says. "Sometimes I use his words as-is; other times, I'll turn a phrase around or just build on something he said.

"Upstairs, in my home studio, I have a piano and an acoustic guitar. I'll start with little ideas, just bits and pieces that I'll build on until the songs become what they become. I go back, listen quite a bit, and do a lot of editing, then move onto the next song. It's a constant revision," he says, noting that the process to complete this album, his fourth CD in six years, took 28 months.

"On 'Saturn National Anthem,' I had the song and the lyrics, but I felt like it needed something else," Grant explains. "I extended the first part of the song, but it still needed a solo, and it popped into my head that Steve [Selvidge] could do a spacey, wicked guitar part. I gave him the files, and he recorded it. In the case of Robert [Barnett], a lot of times I have ideas in my head that I can't play. He's such a creative drummer, and I'm a more keep-the-beat kind of guy."

When Vending Machine plays at the Hi-Tone this Saturday night, the band will be a five-piece, with Grant's brother Grayson Grant on bass, guitarist Quinn Powers, and two drummers, Barnett and John Argroves. For more information, visit Vending Machine's Web site at ChocolateGuitars.com.

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